Just like Lawrence Tierney’s character, Joe Cabot, in the final scene in Reservoir Dogs, we have a niggling fear of regret that could kick in as soon as we upload this post. Once that ‘publish’ button is clicked we’re committed to our article and to be honest for the first time in nearly four years of posting, we’re going ahead when we’re not 100% sure about the band. The reason is that with today’s recommendation there’s a mixed feeling in Camp Recommender. On the one hand, this band have a striking brilliance that hooks you early on, but once you inspect it in more detail the tunes start to fray at the edges. Thankfully it never completely falls apart and the highlights are blindingly bright, so call it our sunny disposition, or a piece of luck on the band’s behalf, but today we’re going ahead, and although we’re backing this horse we still wish to add in a few caveats. Only time will tell if we find our selection an unsatisfying blot on our blog’s landscape, or whether the positives and obvious promise held by the band go on to prove us right all along. Just like Joe, we’re going on a bit of instinct here, so let’s hope we’re not left quoting his immortal line, “I shoulda had my fuckin’ head examined, goin’ ahead when I wasn’t 100%“.
Today’s selection is The Phantom Runners and on the band’s side from the outset is that we’re known to be a very picky bunch on this blog, so they’re already ahead of many rejected bands that sadly never made the grade. Another added factor is that they call Brighton home, as do we, so there’s a favourable tinge to our generosity, as we will obviously get a little more satisfaction from supporting local bands. This particular quartet got together at the end of 2010 and have one self-produced debut EP recorded to date. The early signs are showing promise, with two of their tunes attracting the likes of BBC Introducing, who have listed both of them as ‘Tracks Of The Week‘ on Radio One. They occupy a kind of middle ground that should prove to be broadly radio-friendly, conjuring up thoughts of those popular guitar bands that were all-pervasive during the middle of the last decade – the ones that enjoyed a popular style of big hook guitars and distinct choruses. It’s the kind of music that will always have a market, albeit one at the centre ground, rather than at the boundary-pushed edges of one’s tastes, but that never did The Killers or The Wombats any harm.
We believe they have a hit-in-waiting with the anthemic Goddess Of War, which seems born to fill spaces the size of stadiums. It channels the kind of timelessness that bands used to aim for when writing hit tunes in the 70s and 80s. It’s not necessarily transcending those in a contemporary way either, rather they’re simply collecting together many of that period’s oversized ambitions, in the same manner that Ultravox used to, singing songs about being “wild and free“. The big chord changes and pop dramatics owe much to an Ultravox tune like Hymn, but there’s also a grand design, that has flecks of rocking pomp that only the British can write, particularly bringing to mind bands like Pulp and more recently King Charles. That element is most obviously found inside Adam Al-Hilali’s gentlemanly vocals, but also in the excellent sonic guitar riffs that race through you from the outset. In fact, it’s the driving musicianship behind the voice that lends most of the tune it’s credibility, but Adam’s vocals lift it up in sweeping chord changes which are totally irresistible.
From this strong start a few issues begin to creep into their craft, albeit mostly minor ones that can easily be addressed. There’s too many “ooh’s” and “ahh’s“, which sometimes work well on a tune such as Not The Same Without You, reflecting the likes of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, but elsewhere on tracks like Anna, which aims for a Cure-inspired ballad, they sadly seem more like they’ve run out of lyrics. The truth is they struggle when it comes to writing about love. Anna is still a sweet song, with a ballad that cranks up nicely, but the lyrics could have been stolen from the inside cover of a thirteen year old’s textbook. Sure the heartache is melancholy, but unfortunately, with lines like ”I’ll be there to break your fall“, or ”because you’re always there in my heart“, we have a pretty criminal level of saccharine averageness. That’s the worry at the centre of our niggling doubts, because the best songwriters usually know the difference between what looks good on paper and what sounds good to the audience. If they reached a little deeper and sung lines with a bit more soulful integrity then the words might match the excellent instrumentation. You won’t win us, (or Anna!), over with lines like that, but as we said these are mostly minor hiccups in a band that packs plenty of style and thought elsewhere. It makes us conclude that the peaks are worth the troughs, and this relatively new band still have plenty of time to hopefully realise that they’re in fact at their best when pushing it, rather than when they’re treading water safely in the cliche-packed middle ground. Overall we still think our reputation remains intact with this selection, and as Joe said, “you don’t need proof, when you got instinct“. (MB)
THE PHANTOM RUNNERS – GODDESS OF WAR
THE PHANTOM RUNNERS – ON THE RUN
THE PHANTOM RUNNERS – ANNA
